A spirit lurked among the living seeking revenge but always remained on a low profile, roaming the earth, visited the four nations, spied on people's dreams and nightmares. The thing had no perspective of time and space. And how old was the fiend? How did it come to be? Only the creature had the answer to these questions, knew its origins, but will not reveal its secrets to just anyone. To its eyes, no one was worthy of knowing such things, especially humans. Wretched beings. It hated them, laughed at them every chance it got. And as it observed them, it quickly learned how to cause pain. But what really dazzled the creature was at how easy it was to manipulate them with the promise of power. Greedy, selfish creatures! Why, it only took a few words to convince Fire Lord Sozin to "Share" and "spread" the fire nation's prosperity with the rest of the three nations. Ha! Stupid fool! Little did Sozin know he was just a puppet at the mercy of Dark Spirit to help it achieve its true goal: Destroy the Avatar.
Once the bestest of friends now stared at one another, swearing to stop each other at all cause, even if that meant a battle to death. And It happily watched as Avatar Roku was poisoned by the gas. So when Sozin tried to reach for his friend, it whispired in his ear, told him how it was better to leave him there. That Roku would just but a stop to his plans. And it worked! Roku was no more!
But wait! There was a flaw in the plan. Roku had not died in the Avatar State. Soon, the Avatar would reincarnate into the air nomads. So it whispered once again:
Eliminate all airbenders. Break the chain! Spare no soul.
And for 100 years the people waited for the new Avatar till all hope was lost. The Spirit remained at the fire nation, whispering to the next generations to spread fear and show just how powerful they were. And why? For pure entertainment of course! The Avatar was gone and fiend was bored. Fire Lord Azulon and his son Ozai were just as weak as the old fool Sozin. Iroh, the Dark Spirit could not break, but it didn't matter as long he followed orders. And it was fun! Until a ray of light appeared at the Southern Water Tribe. The Spirit watched as the Water Tribe children pulled the last airbender out of the sea. Leave it to humans to fail at their mission. But it did not mind. The Avatar was just a ten year old boy who could not yet master all four elements. Surely the fire nation would get to him.
The Spirit needn't approach the Young Prince. The simple act of gaining back his honor was motivation enough. So it watched and it laughed at the obstacles the new Avatar went through. All was entertaining for a while, until no harm come to the boy. The Spirit was sure the Prince would end his life by now. It fumed at Zuko's failed attempts. All the potential it had seen in him now vanished. So it went back to the Fire Nation seeking punishment for him and his uncle. The Boy had had failed at his mission and showed signs of confusion. He would be of no use to the fiend's future plans once the Avatar was gone. It could clearly see that Zuko would one day become an obstacle if shown the right path. And what exactly was Iroh's crime? Trying to redeem his nephew and stop him from becoming his father. They needed to be stopped.
That's where Azula came to the picture. Yes! She was a child prodigy! Already at such young age she had mastered the art of firebending and what a talent she displayed at manipulating others, causing fear, even amongst her own friends. So it whispered to her father:
"Send the princess to end your son."
The Spirit had to admit, Azula was the only human it ever admired. She was a little monster herself. Same greedy mind as her predecessors. There was no need to whisper strategies in her dreams as the Spirit had done with the rest of her family. She came up with her own wicked plans and no obstacle got in her way. Even when she had seen the Avatar with her own eyes, she became obsessed with the idea of finishing him off as well.
So when all attempts to destroy Aang failed, it grew angry again. The Fire Lord would fail, the fiend already knew that and it's only hope now was Azula. She was already losing her mind with the betrayal of her friends so it would only take a few words to driver her over the edge. And the Spirit did just that, knew her weakness: a yearning for her mother's love and acceptance. It took the image of her Mother and appeared right before her eyes. That push was all it took to drive her insane and release all her power.
But even that wasn't enough. So the Spirit vanished again, following Aang as he grew up, hoping a new opportunity would rise. And it did! When Yakone appeared. But it did not get a chance to enter Yakone's mind. His bending was taken away and with it, the chance of revenge. Still, it followed Yakone and hope rose again with the birth of two sons. The Spirit eagerly awaited for the first sign of waterbending. So this is what joy felt like? Thought the Spirit when the Sons happily displayed their power. It wasted no time entering Yakone's mind, muttering a plan of revenge against the Avatar. Yakone resisted at first. He was after all, a happily married men with a beatiful family. So the Spirit brought back images of Aang and his bending being taken away. That's all it took to corrupt Yakone's mind. And his sons! Oh, such skilled children! The Spirit felt victory rise at each bloodbending lesson. As it observed them, it saw much more pontential in Noatak. Tarrlok would be of no use. But wait! What's this?! The student outranked his teacher. But why is the boy running away! This was not part of the plan! Noatak, like his brother, did not like to bloodbend and ran from his father, swearing that he would never do it again. All he ever wanted was a normal life. Everyday, he wished he had not left his family behind. He sometimes thought about going back, but what if he was forced to stay and practice bloodbending again. Never! He shook his head and began to walk away. It ached not to have his brother or mother at his side. His father could die for all he cared.
He dreamt of his mother calling for him, of Tarrlok's laughter and the good old days before the nightmare began. And the Spirit? It spied on his dreams and as it saw the boy's wishes, it began to plan. iDestroy the Avatar. It's the only way to have a normal life./i The Spirit fed him images of a future without the Avatar, a future where he could proudly go back to his family. It whispered a name and identity that would one day be feared by all. In dreams the Spirit came to him, showing for the first time, its true form, sharing ideas for him to rise to power. And after he was well taught, the spirit shared a final secret. The art of using bloodbending to take a benders power.
Noatak was somewhat in a trance when carving a face. Two eyes, he saw his mother and brother. A nose, he smelled the blood. A mouth, he heard his father's angry words. A red circle. To a future with out the Avatar. He raised the final product before his eyes, taking a good look at his creation. As he put on the mask, Noatak began to fade away. A new personality took control. He killed the Water Tribe Boy. Amon was born.
This time, the spirit would make sure the plan did not fail by following Amon needed money, weapons. The fiend lurked upon the nonbenders until it found Mr Sato. He was perfect! Wife killed by benders. Feared for his daughters safety, and had the funds to finance the creation of machinery so deadly, not even the Avatar could stop them. He whispered to Amon, and with the Spirit's help, convinced Mr. Sato to join the cause.
As the people showed up, the fiend spotted the new Avatar infiltrated in the crowd. It floated next to Amon, fed him words. His speech, the story, all well calculated to win the sympathy of the people.
"Show them" It said. "Display your power"
Ah, the look on the Avatar's face when she saw that it was true. He could take people's bending!
It cursed when the Avatar got away. But no matter. Now, with the help of the human, it had a way to end her.
"Do it! Take her bending! Force her into the Avatar state then Kill her!"
It desperately muttered as Amon's man held her down. But as he stared at Korra, her frightened eyes looking up at him, averted her head so he could not see just how frightened she was, a forgotten voice invaded his head, told him it was wrong. Nothing good would come of it. He struggled to fight the voice and listen to the one in his ear.
He hesitated, hand still in the air until it reached out and gently turned her towards him. Who was it that said these words? Certainly not Amon. No, it was someone else. Someone who didn't want to kill or hurt anyone, someone who made up a whole new plan, releasing her from death but hurting her in the process. He walked away, leaving her injured body behind.
The Spirit followed Amon as he freed his brother, both hiding in dark corners until they safely reached the docks. As Noatak promised a new furture to his brother, the fiend grew angry when it heard it was no longer in his plans to go after the Avatar. Yes, he had taken away her bending, but she was still alive. The task was not yet complete.
"Lies" It whispered to Tarrlok. The human had failed and now he must pay. "He didn't end her. He will run again and will not stop until he does." Tarrlok listend carefully. "There is way for both to be together" Tarrlok looked at the equalist glove, took one in his hand . "do it!" The fiend said. "Unless you want to be seperated again."
"It will be just like the good old days" Tarrlok opened the lid. The glove let out a few sparks before reaching its destination.
A hard lesson was learned. Humans had failed to destroy the Avatar. "Doesn't matter" The spirit said. A new strategy came to mind. All these years wasted and the answer was so simple. If it was to end the Avatar, it had to be with it's own claws. It had to enter and possess the flesh of a loved one, someone she trust.
But who? The Spirit thought.
The broken waterbend she had taken in?
The brothers who were always by his side?
The Sato girl who she had now grown close to?
Why, even the Grandson of the firelord seemed tempting. Or maybe, just maybe, a close member of the family? Didn't she get along well with her twin cousins?
While the Spirit considered all options, it emerged from the cloud of smoke and evaporated, leaving behind a gray reminder of another failed attempt that would soon be carried away by the wind.